Proceeding Of Mechanical Engineering Research Day 2015 (MERD’15)

This Open Access e-Proceeding contains 74 selected papers from the Mechanical Engineering Research Day 2015 (MERD’15) event, which is held in Kampus Teknologi, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) - Melaka, Malaysia, on 31 March 2015. The theme chosen for this event is ‘Pioneering Future Discovery’. The response for MERD’15 is overwhelming as the technical committees have received more than 90 papers from various areas of mechanical engineering. From the total number of submissions, the technical committees have selected 74 papers to be included in this proceeding. The selected papers are grouped into 12 categories: Advanced Materials Processing; Automotive Engineering; Computational Modeling and Analysis & CAD/CAE; Energy Management & Fuels and Lubricants; Hydraulics and Pneumatics & Mechanical Control; Mechanical Design and Optimization; Noise, Vibration and Harshness; Non-Destructive Testing & Structural Mechanics; Surface Engineering and Coatings; Others Related Topic. With the large number of submissions from the researchers in other faculties, the event has achieved its main objective which is to bring together educators, researchers and practitioners to share their findings and perhaps sustaining the research culture in the university. The topics of MERD’15 are based on a combination of advanced research methodologies, application technologies and review approaches. As the editor-in-chief, we would like to express our gratitude to the editorial board members for their tireless effort in compiling and reviewing the selected papers for this proceeding. We would also like to extend our great appreciation to the members of the Publication Committee and Secretariat for their excellent cooperation in preparing the proceedings of MERD’15

Sound Insulation Performance Of Kenaf Fibre As A Noise Control Treatment In Car Using Statistical Energy Analysis

In recent years, kenaf fibre has been highlighted for its superiority as the filler for composite materials. However, study of the fibres as an acoustic absorber is still lacking. In this paper, the sound absorption of kenaf fibre specimens are studied both under normal and random sound incidence. The normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient measurement was conducted using the impedance tube method. The effects of thickness involving full fibre and air-fibre specimen and the effect of bulk density were discussed. For the random-incidence sound absorption coefficient, the test was conducted in a reverberation chamber. From both methods, the results in general reveal that for bulk density of 140–150 kg/m3 and thickness of 25–30 mm, the absorption coefficient is above 0.5 starting from 500 Hz and can reach 0.85 on average above 1.5 kHz. These frequency bandwidth of absorption and the level of absorption coefficient improve significantly when bulk density and thickness are increased. Additional air gap also improve the absorption toward lower frequency

INVESTIGATION INTO MAGNETIC DRIVE SEALLESS PUMP FAILURE 3 FLARE GAS RECOVERY UNIT (FGRU)

Failure investigation was conducted on magnetic drive centrifugal sealless pumps that had only been operating for six months and were already struggling to rotate. It was discovered that hydrocarbon sludge and other debris had blocked the lubricating channel, which is meant to provide pathways for cooling and lubricating the pump's inner magnetic and containment shell. Further investigation revealed that service water had contaminated the process fluid, precipitating calcium carbonate upon contact with the amine solution and clogging the flushing line. An additional duplex strainer was installed on the repaired pumps, and adequate precautions were taken to prevent water contamination

Maintenance and Physical Asset Management Issues in Project Commissioning

This study describes the review on maintenance related issues during design and construction stage within construction industry. The paper highlights the causes and errors made during design and construction stage and their impact during the operation/production/occupancy stage as well as the maintenance costs associated with it. The study identifies the mistakes in the working processes within design and construction stage leading to the errors that affect the durability, performance, reliability, maintainability, availability and safety of the systems. The paper presents a comprehensive review of the published literatures, journals, technical papers in the related areas in the construction field. The review highlights the new approaches and decision framework which link the designers and construction personnel that could reduce the errors and defects in construction which then lead to maintenance issues and asset management. The factors of accessibility, materials, design and documentation standardization have been discussed thoroughly for better understanding in improving maintenance and physical asset management in project commissioning

Wear Behaviour Of A-C: H Helical Gear Through Particle Generation

This paper presents the wear performance of amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) deposited on helical gears through wear debris analysis. Helical gears are tested on a power recirculating test rig with constant loads of 100 Nm and speed of 1,000 rpm. The tests are conducted for 9 million cycles or an initial pitting of 25% covering the surface of the teeth. Samplings are obtained for approximately 60 ml of the lubricant for every 3.6×105 cycles, which are then analysed through oil analysis that includes wear debris analysis as well as particle counting. The results reveal that the a-C:H coated gear reduces the particle generation by a factor of 3.11 as compared to the baseline testing. However, a-C:H does not affect the condition of the lubricant. It is found that the a-C:H gear had reduction in micro-pitting formation as compared to the uncoated gear. This study demonstrates an extension of the life of gears through the application of a-C:H coating

Sound Absorption Of MPP With Irregular Hole Distribution

Analytical models for the sound absorption coefficient of MPP are extensively available particularly for the cases where holes are regularly distributed across the MPP structure. The behaviors of sound absorption performance have therefore been well recognized. Thus, it’s also interesting to study the MPP for the cases where the distribution of holes is not spaced regularly across the MPP, which becomes the objective of this paper. Here, the FEM is employed to simulate the acoustic impedance of the panel holes. Two main cases of irregular hole distributions are observed, namely 1) where the holes are concentrated in the middle of the plate, and 2) where the holes are distributed around the edge. For each case, this is applied for MPP with homogenous and inhomogeneous perforations. The analysis reveals that for both cases of hole distributions, the peak absorption can shift to lower frequency with the second case to have more effect than the first case. The finite element models are validated with experiment with good agreement

Predictive Maintenance Of Railway Transformer Oil Based On Periodic Content Analysis

The high frequency of operation of commuter trains, due to passenger demand as well as the selection of railway as the mode of daily transportation for commuting on weekdays, increases the usage of on-board power, especially for a train’s traction system. As maintenance is rarely performed on transformer oil, it deteriorates and negatively affects transformer performance, increases heat, and may damage the transformer as well. This will result in significantly costly maintenance expenses for train operators. Therefore, this paper proposes a predictive maintenance schedule for transformer oil. The recommendations are based upon an analysis of transformer oil contents and its properties over a 90-month period of operation. A linear correlation between the properties of the oil and the train’s period of operation yielded a predictive maintenance schedule, primarily reclamation and filtration, for the oil at the threshold of each property. Major oil changes are to be considered when all properties are approaching their thresholds. As oil deterioration increases over time, a specific maintenance schedule was suggested. This was tested and observed on several transformer units. The content analysis of each oil is also discussed. Based on the results, this predictive maintenance schedule can be used on other trains with the same transformer model or other trains using the same type of insulating oil